Pleasant Gehman

Gehman as Estelle in Firecracker

Pleasant Gehman (b. March 17, 1959) is a magazine writer, poet, actor, dancer and musician from Los Angeles.

In the 1980s, she was the singer for the punk rock band Screamin' Sirens, and later, The RIngling Sisters and Honk If Yer Horny. All three bands have released numerous titles on vinyl, as well as cd. Her articles on rock 'n' roll, American pop culture, sex, the arts and human interest have appeared in L.A. Weekly, The Los Angeles Reader, Spin, Genre, as well as many others, including online publications. Her poetry, essays and short stories have been widely anthologized in a number of literary journals and collections and she has written and/or edited a number of books. The Village Voice called her writing "... startling; full of passion", USA Today described it as "A wildly fascinating walk on the wild side!" while Ray Gun raved: "…tough and tender, with a trademark air of seen-it-all innocence that makes it glow". In 1994, she recorded a collection of her poetry and spoken-word routines entitled Ruined. Among the venues where she has performed spoken-word pieces include The Unhappy Hour at the Parlour Club. A professional belly dancer since 1991, and a burlesque performer since 1995, she was a seminal member of America's premiere burlesque troupe, "The Velvet Hammer", and appears in the 2001 documentary film The Velvet Hammer Burlesque. She co-starred in Margaret Cho's Off Broadway variety show The Sensuous Woman in 2007. She has appeared dancing and acting in many films, television shows (including the sitcom The Nanny) documentaries on punk rock, belly dance and exotic dance and music videos both under her own name and under her stage name, Princess Farhana. Her music video credits include work with Madonna and Ricky Martin. In 1989, she co-wrote and starred in MGM's film The Runnin' Kind, and also appeared as Estelle in Steve Balderson's film Firecracker. In 2007 she acted as assistant choreographer to Fatima Robinson, for the belly dance sequence in Charlie Wilson's War. Under the name Princess Farhana, she has released a series of eleven belly dance and burlesque instructional and performance DVDs. In 2006, she recorded the lead vocal for Blacklight Sleaze with British house music duo Peace Division, which entered the UK music charts.

In April 2009, Pleasant reunited with cult director Steve Balderson for Stuck! - an homage to film noir women in prison dramas. Co-starring Karen Black, Mink Stole, Susan Traylor, and The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin, Stuck! was filmed in Macon, Georgia and released in 2010.

Underbelly

Underbelly is an acclaimed year-in-the-life documentary of Pleasant Gehman (aka Princess Farhana). Through a fortuitous chance meeting at the age of thirty-two, Pleasant discovered belly dancing. After years of punk rock rebellion, debauched cross-country indie- band tours, substance abuse, low self-esteem and bulimia, this twist of fate literally changed her life. Embarking on a dance career after training with well-known American dancers such as Zahra Zuhair and famed Egyptian dancers such as Raqia Hassan, at an age when many professionals are considering retirement, she reinvented herself as Princess Farhana, and became an international belly dance star.

Filming for Underbelly began in November 2006 at Tribal Dreams in Lincoln, Nebraska, and continued throughout all of 2007—in Sebastopol for Tribal Fest 7, to the Mexican Riviera for the Sun Bellies belly dance cruise, in New York for Margaret Cho's off broadway hit The Sensuous Woman, to Hollywood, California - where Pleasant was given a commendation from the City of Los Angeles for her years of artistic contribution.

The World Premieres were held in London and at the Boston Underground Film Festival in March 2008.

Books

• Escape From Houdini Mountain And Other Stories (Manic D Press)
• Senorita Sin (1994, Incommunicado Press)
• Princess Of Hollywood (1997, Incommunicado)
• The Underground Guide To Los Angeles (1999, Manic D Press)-which spent nine weeks on The Los Angeles Times Best Sellers List. Since then, The Underground Guide To Los Angeles has had all new up-dated editions published in 2002 and 2006.

External links

• www.plezonline.com - Official Pleasant Gehman site
• www.PrincessFarhana.com - Official Princess Farhana site
• www.stucknoir.com - Stuck! movie site
• Women of Punk - interview with Pleasant Gehaman
• 3am Magazine - interview with Pleasant Gehaman
• Gilded Serpent - article by Pleasant Gehaman
• LA's Better Half - blog about Pleasant
• princessfarhana.thebellydancers.tv - Website about Princess Farhana